Diversions

The social and economic transformations sweeping through China have been accompanied by a simultaneous revolution in the country’s photographic artsand showcasing its most outstanding exponents is the exhibition “Between Past and Future” at the Seattle Art Museum until May 15. The exhibition explores the legacies of China’s imperial and Maoist past, as well as the effects of rampant development on the country’s culture and landscape. An astonishing diversity of work is on display, from Cui Xiuwen’s video Ladies Roomwhich looks at the social dynamics of the new China from the perspective of a nightclub powder roomto Huang Yan’s beguiling Chinese Landscape-Tattoo, pictured here.

Style Watch: Rattan Revolution

Diversions: All Talk

Food: Season to Taste

Outdoors: Comfy Camping

“The images in the exhibition capture the intensity of change in the Chinese economy,” says co-curator Wu Hung. “The artists make their works very quickly, so everything has a raw sense of immediacy and energy.” Raw is the operative word. For a portrait of performance artist Zhang Huan, photographer Rong Rong required Zhang to stand in a dirty toilet block for an hour, smeared with honey and covered with flies. “The art is so dynamic because in China everything moves so fast,” says Wu, “and art captures this sense of social transformation.” Can’t make the Seattle showing? “Between Past and Future” travels to London’s Victoria and Albert Museum in September.